Winnipeg - Federal Minister of State (Public Health) Carolyn Bennett and Manitoba's Minister Responsible for Healthy Living Theresa Oswald are co-hosting a meeting today on addressing the present and future risks of infectious diseases in Canada. The meeting is part of an ongoing initiative to develop public health goals for Canada.
The event brings together leaders in the fields of infectious disease and public health to explore how public policy within the two areas can be aligned to promote collaboration and partnerships among organizations. Central to this event will be the mandate of the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases, which works to compliment and build on research into emerging diseases such as SARS, West Nile virus and BSE.
"The new National Collaborating Centre on Infectious Diseases will help us respond to the challenges around emerging and re-emerging infectious disease in Canada," said Minister Bennett. "Today's roundtable will discuss how this theme fits into the establishment of public health goals for all Canadians."
Ministers Bennett and Oswald have already conducted 14 consultations in communities across Canada in a process designed to produce public health goals that will help make Canada the healthiest country in the world.
"To promote, support and facilitate the prevention and control of infectious diseases is a very important part of public health ," said Minister Oswald. " These consultations are key in helping us develop healthy public policies and strategies related to the control and management of infectious diseases."
This is the fourth in a series of six meetings, each on a specific subject area related to public health. The themes of these meetings are based on the subject areas of the recently created National Collaborating Centres (NCCs) for Public Health. The NCC for Infectious Diseases, located in Manitoba, will help redefine how we address the challenges in dealing with emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in Canada.
"We will be consulting widely with key people in the industry, governments and the population to develop strategies that will address the wide-ranging issues surrounding infectious diseases," said Mr. Terry Duguid, President and CEO of the International Centre for Infectious Diseases and lead for the NCC on Infectious Diseases. "I look forward to the centre taking a leadership and advocacy role in infectious disease control and research."
In addition to this meeting, roundtables on Environmental Health, Social Determinants of Health and Aboriginal Health have already taken place. Two additional meetings are planned based on the themes of the other National Collaborating Centres:
Public Health Methodologies and Tools; and
Public Policy and Risk Assessment
A summary of this meeting, along with the results from the other consultations, will be posted on the Public Health Goals web site at www.healthycanadians.ca. Additional information on the Canada-wide consultation process and an electronic survey are available on the web site to enable as many Canadians as possible to become directly involved in the development of Public Health goals for Canada.
Elected officials, community groups and non-governmental organizations have also been provided with a public health goals consultation activity guide so they can host roundtables within their own communities.
-30-
Backgrounder:
Public Health Goals Consultations
Media Inquiries:
Jean-Mathieu Dion
Public Health Agency of Canada
(613) 948-7970
Tricia Geddes
Office of the Minister of State (Public Health), Carolyn Bennett
(613) 299-6940
Jonathan Hildebrand
Office of the Minister of Healthy Living, Theresa Oswald
(204) 945-1494
